Wednesday, July 18, 2007

International calls for the release of Haleh Esfandiari

There has been increasing international protest against the continuing imprisonment of the Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari in Tehran. An overview can be found on the website Free Haleh, but here are two significant recent examples.

=> The Nobel Women's Initiative is a group of 6 women from around the world who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, including the Iranian Shirin Ibadi, who has been trying to serve as a defense attorney for Haleh Esfandiari but has not been allowed to meet with her. On July 17 the Nobel Women's Initiative issued a statement that

calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release Haleh Esfandiari from Evin Prison, to drop all charges against her, and to free her to return to her home and family.

Read the rest HERE. (Incidentally, it was quite courageous for Ebadi to sign a statement of this sort right now The current escalation of political repression in Iran has succeeded in silencing or intimidating a lot of independent and opposition voices, and it's not certain that even Ebadi's high international profile would necessarily protect her.)

=> And the June 28, 2007 issue of the New York Review of Books published a hard-hitting letter of protest signed by 141 prominent intellectuals of varying political persuasions (including important Middle East scholars and a number of expatriate Iranians, among others). As this statement correctly emphasizes, the recent arrests of several Iranian-American scholars and journalists with dual Iranian and US citizenship are part of a broader campaign of intensified political repression in Iran (see also here & here & here).

The arbitrary detention and confinement of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American scholar and the director of the Middle East program at the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., is the latest distressing episode in an ongoing crackdown by the Islamic Republic against those who, directly or indirectly, strive to bolster the foundations of civil society and promote human rights in Iran. Over the past year and a half, this onslaught has targeted prominent women's rights activists, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, student and teacher associations, and labor unions. [....]

We find Dr. Esfandiari's case particularly disturbing because it is tinged with invidious anti-Semitic rhetoric and conspiratorial worldviews. The egregious charges leveled against her by the semi-official daily Kayhan make Dr. Esfandiari the latest victim in the Iranian government's repeated and escalating attempts to intimidate and silence human rights activists and promoters of civil society, as well as those who advocate the path of dialogue and moderation in Iran's foreign policy. [....]

We call upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to strongly protest and condemn the arbitrary detention of Dr. Esfandiari, to call for her immediate and unconditional release, and to urge the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international conventions and treaties to which Iran has long been a signatory.

Letter by 141 writers, including scholars of Iran and the Middle East, and othersSTATEMENT PROTESTING THE DETENTION OF DR. HALEH ESFANDIARI BY THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT

To the Editors:

The arbitrary detention and confinement of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American scholar and the director of the Middle East program at the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., is the latest distressing episode in an ongoing crackdown by the Islamic Republic against those who, directly or indirectly, strive to bolster the foundations of civil society and promote human rights in Iran. Over the past year and a half, this onslaught has targeted prominent women's rights activists, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, student and teacher associations, and labor unions.

In recent weeks, scores of women's rights activists have been harassed, physically attacked, and detained for no greater a crime than demonstrating peacefully and circulating petitions calling for the elimination of discriminatory laws and practices. University students across the country have faced expulsion, arrest, and imprisonment for peacefully protesting the erosion of the administrative and academic independence of their universities.

It is in this context that the months-long harassment, extrajudicial arrest, and incarceration of Dr. Esfandiari—which was admitted belatedly by the Iranian government on May 13, 2007 (The New York Times, May 14, 2007)—exemplify the relentless campaign by the leaders of the Islamic Republic against the most basic principles of human rights. We find Dr. Esfandiari's case particularly disturbing because it is tinged with invidious anti-Semitic rhetoric and conspiratorial worldviews. The egregious charges leveled against her by the semi-official daily Kayhan make Dr. Esfandiari the latest victim in the Iranian government's repeated and escalating attempts to intimidate and silence human rights activists and promoters of civil society, as well as those who advocate the path of dialogue and moderation in Iran's foreign policy. In her capacity as the director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Dr. Esfandiari has been a staunch advocate of peaceful dialogue between Tehran and Washington in resolving their disputes.

We believe that, despite certain internal disagreements among members of its ruling elite, the Islamic Republic of Iran—as any other member of the United Nations—should be held fully accountable for its actions. Only through a clear and united stand against the many breaches of human rights and civil liberties in Iran can one hope to encourage those elements within the Islamic Republic who recognize the importance of human rights for Iran's standing within the international community.

We call upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to strongly protest and condemn the arbitrary detention of Dr. Esfandiari, to call for her immediate and unconditional release, and to urge the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international conventions and treaties to which Iran has long been a signatory.

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About Me

Jeff Weintraub is a social & political theorist, political sociologist, and democratic socialist who has been teaching most recently at the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and the New School for Social Research.. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University in 2015-2016 and is currently a Research Associate at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College.
(Also an Affiliated Professor with the University of Haifa in Israel & an opponent of academic blacklists.)